A Scan Is Not a Scan
Here is another excellent Gina Kolata piece on scanning.
There are too many:
As many as 20 percent to 50 percent of the procedures should never have been done.
The type of scanner matters:
Insurers pay the same for a scan done on a 10-year-old machine as one on the latest model, though the differences in the images can be significant.
How well it's done matters:
Insurers do not distinguish between scans that are done poorly or done well or read by less- or more-qualified doctors.
Who reads the scan matters:
A good radiologist and a lower-quality scan could be better than a bad radiologist and a good scan.
Very, very interesting.
The more I look at the health care system the more it becomes clear that our biggest problem is that we have dumb payers. Or at least dumb payment formulas.
Stephen, these are the same dumb payers who think they are perfectly capable of telling doctors how to practice medicine.